20 March 2008

It seems natural to sit down to practice guitar in the comfort of your home. That comfy sofa or chair is a great place to practice. At first you might even feel quite ridiculous standing up in your living room to play guitar.But sitting down during all of your guitar practice easily turns into a pitfall. When it comes to performing, in many cases you'll be standing up to face your audience. Now, if all your practice has been done sitting down, you'll find this difficult.

The whole position and balance of your guitar is different when it doesn't have a handy knee to rest on. It's as if someone had changed the placing of your strings a little. You'll need some time to adjust to this new position and feel confident about standing up. The best time to do that is during practice, not when you're trying to perform guitar for an audience.The solution to this pitfall is easy, just stand up for at least a part of the time you practice guitar. If you don't have a guitar strap already, you'll need to buy one.

If you're used to putting your music down next to you on the sofa you'll also discover that it's hard to see when you're standing up (unless you have a very tall sofa). That's where a music stand comes in handy to position your music where you can see it easily.

You can buy both of these accessories from any guitar store, and they won't cost you very much.

So now you know how to avoid this pitfall, stand up and practice more guitar.